The Football Forecast

Bundesliga Transfer Rumours | 14th-20th August

After a seemingly quiet week on the transfers front from the 7th-13th August, the rumours have sparked into life once again; as has the amount of transfer deals being completed.

I’ll be taking a look at this week’s Bundesliga transfer gossip and discussing whether or not I believe/know they are true.

Kevin De Bruyne | Wolfsburg – Manchester City

The De Bruyne story has been in and around the papers in both England and Germany from the very moment the summer transfer window opened. Most recently, the reported fee that Manchester City have offered is just shy of £60 million. The gargantuan price tag alone suggests how desperate City and Manuel Pellegrini are to bring the Belgian attacking midfielder to the Ethiad stadium.

Despite reports that the former Chelsea man is happy at Wolfsburg and isn’t looking to move away, the speculation persists and Man City are confident they will be able to lure him to Manchester.

Personally, I believe De Bruyne should stay at Wolfsburg for the time being. The Wolves have found their magic touch again and will now see themselves return to the Champions League this season (not to mention push Bayern all the way for the Bundesliga title). It would be better for the 24-year-old to remain at the Volkswagen Arena for another season and then re-evaluate his options at the beginning of the next campaign.

Mamadou Sakho | Liverpool – Bayer Leverkusen

The French centre-back is yet to feature in a competitive fixture for Liverpool this season and reports from Germany have been suggesting that Bayer Leverkusen are ready to submit a bid of around £7 million in order to secure the services of the 25-year-old.

Despite being the preferred centre-back last season, Reds boss Brendan Rogers has opted to go with Dejan Lovren so far this season which has created the speculation (with the Express even reporting that he has demanded to leave due to lack of first team football). As of yet, we are unsure whether or not this is true.

In my opinion, moving to Leverkusen would be a good move for Sakho providing he isn’t going to receive the first team football he desires at Anfield. Bayer are a big club with Champions League aspirations (although they’re trailing 1-0 to Lazio in the qualifying round with a 2nd leg still to play) and they would match his ambitions.

Dante | Bayern Munich – Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayer Leverkusen

It’s well known that the current Bundesliga champions have a host of centre-backs; far too many to keep every single one happy and playing first team football. Therefore, it’s only natural that speculation will arise regarding some defenders and that one-or-two may want to leave for the good of their career. It appears that Dante is one of them.

The Brazilian defender is now 31 and thus needs to be playing first team football as he begins to reach the latter stages of his career. Since the arrival of Pep Guardiola, Munich’s style has changed which has led to the defensive line playing higher up than previously. Due to Dante’s lack of pace, he has found it difficult to adapt and his game-time has suffered as a result.

Both Monchengladbach and Leverkusen earned themselves a place in the Champions League this year (with Bayer having to play a qualifier as previously mentioned) and so moving to either of the two would be a great move for him. The move to Borussia Monchegladbach in particular looks to be the favourite for me as the 31-year-old had a three year spell with the club prior to joining Bayern Munich in 2012.

Marco Reus | Borussia Dortmund – Real Madrid

Although the German midfielder signed a new contract with Dortmund earlier this year, there has supposedly been interest from Real Madrid. TFF understands that a agreement has been made between the La Liga club and the Bundesliga club and that the move is making steady progress, however, it depends on whether or not Karim Benzema will make the move to Arsenal first (which is expected to be announced within a week or so).

If the move was to go through, there have been reports suggesting that Dortmund are looking at Adnan Januzaj, possibly as a replacement for Marco Reus in my opinion. However, Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal has clearly stated that the Belgian attacking midfielder is not for sale and will be remaining at Old Trafford.